The UK from space

As a meteorologist, every once in a while I see a satellite picture that tells so many different stories about the weather that the UK is experiencing.

You’re probably thinking that on a satellite picture, cloud is just cloud. However, if you look a little closer, the saying that a picture is worth a thousand words really rings true.

Each day, NASA’s Rapid Response satellites circle the earth and provide highly detailed imagery for most places around the world.

I thought I would take a look at today’s high resolution satellite picture and pick out some of the interesting features that I’ve managed to spot.

Moray Firth fog

This image shows fog hugging the coastline of the Moray Firth. You can tell it is fog because of its smooth, grey appearance and also because it matches the shape of the coastline so well.

If you look closely, the fog has also managed to funnel further inland along some of the river valleys.

As a result of the fog, there has been a huge range in temperature in this part of Scotland. In the fog, Kinloss is stuck at around 8C, but inland in the sunshine, Loch Glascarnoch is 14C.

Isle of Man cloud shield

This image shows a shield of cloud drifting northwards across the Isle of Man. To the right hand side of the image, it’s cirrus cloud as you can see through it, much as you would if you were to look up at it in the sky from the ground.

Towards the centre and left of the image the cloud is thicker as it consists of different layers – largely cirrus and altostratus, although there is some altocumulus mixed in as well (the lumpy cloud).

As the cloud approaches, there is also a huge shadow being cast ahead of it, putting the Isle of Man in the shade as the sunshine starts to disappear.

Low cloud across the Midlands and northern England

The solid white area of cloud across the Midlands and northern England is from low cloud that formed overnight. As the temperature fell, the air cooled and moisture within it condensed, giving stratus cloud.

The other interesting thing to notice is that there are ripples developing in the cloud. These are caused by a gentle south easterly breeze being disturbed as it’s forced up over the hills and mountains.

Cumulus cloud streets over Northern Ireland

This image shows lines (streets) of cumulus clouds developing over Northern Ireland. These are formed over the land as the sun heats parcels of air which rise and form puffs of cumulus.

As they drift over land, blown in the direction of the wind (in this case southerly), further heating of the ground below from the sun causes the air to rise even more and the clouds become bigger.

Contrails across south east England

Although most of south east England has cloudless skies and lots of sunshine in this image, contrails are clearly evident as aircraft leave the UK and head far and wide.

There’s also some lingering mist along the north coast of Kent around Herne Bay. This is another example of how weather can vary over a short distance. Places stuck in the mist would have been around 5C cooler than those with sunshine.

These satellite images are produced daily for around the world and are free to view. Whilst some days they can be unremarkable, sometimes they can be stunning and help to explain what is happening with the weather outside our windows.

I regularly tweet and discuss interesting satellite images on Twitter, so if you fancy being part of the conversation, you can follow me – @liamdutton

All images are courtesy of NASA/GSFC, Rapid Response.